


For What We Could Become

by TheDragonofHouseMormont



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-01-25 14:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1652126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDragonofHouseMormont/pseuds/TheDragonofHouseMormont
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crossover AoS x OUAT AU where Jemma Simmons is born from old magic within the town of Storybrooke, Maine.  Takes place post AoS season one finale and at the start of of OUAT season three.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

There were things in the forest much older than Rumplestiltskin, much older than even the Dark One curse itself. Things that lived and thrived, shadows that whispered, far beyond the reaches of the castles and their petty wars. So when Regina’s curse came to ravage the land, the creatures, these peoples, they did not worry about a magic so much weaker than theirs.  
They lived in the forest, so that is where they stayed on borders of Storybrooke, never aging but never forgetting. Magic worked differently here, but they adjusted and they moved on with their lives, until one day a baby girl was born. None of the peoples of the forest had given birth in Storybrooke before, and though the mother had died in childbirth, the girl was like a miracle; but they realized that, like themselves, she could not age. But she was a child of this new world, so she could live within it in a way they could not, so they agreed that she should be sent from this town, somewhere the curse could not reach.

 

***  
Jemma Simmons had always known she was not like other children. First of all, she was the only kid she knew who was adopted. She couldn’t remember when her parents told her this, it was just a fact of her life, and she had decided a long time ago that it didn’t change the fact that the Simmons were her parents and she loved them. Second, since she was a toddler, she’d proved to be more intelligent than anyone had expected. All her life she’d heard the word “prodigy” tossed around her.  
The third reason, though, was one she never told anyone about. It had started when she was little. Things would shake, float, or go flying across a room. It mostly happened when no one else was around, but her mum saw once. Jemma lied and said she’d threw the glass because she was angry. She was grounded for three weeks.  
Jemma kept it quiet and she learned to keep her emotions in check. She was drawn to morbidity, so her parents started signing her up for science camps, focusing her strange interests and brilliant intellect into biology, and there she excelled.  
By the time she made it to The Academy at 18, she was already working on her second PhD. There she met Leopold Fitz. Jemma had never been aware how much she’d lacked a true friend in her life until she had one, and so her life became an exciting blur of lab assignments, exams, the boiler room, and staying up all night studying. Jemma and Fitz took to spending those nights in one or the other’s dorms, everywhere they went, they went together, and so Fitz and Simmons became FitzSimmons.  
It was during one of those late night studies that they both fell asleep, sprawled out on the floor, Jemma had a nightmare, and for the first time in years she lost control. Fitz woke up to the sound of a lamp crashing and the sight of his dorm a mess with Simmons curled up, still asleep, and whimpering. He woke her up and her first thought was that now he knew, she would lose her first real friend. Except Fitz surprised her by being supportive instead. He kept her secret, bought her different books on subjects of magic and the occult, playing it as a lighthearted “oh, who knows, maybe you’ll find something of use,” but genuinely hoping that she did, and whenever she lost control again, he was there holding her hand to steady her.

 

When they joined Coulson’s team, they made four new friends, but they knew they had to keep the secret from them. Sometimes Fitz would lie awake at night, his mind going through horrible scenarios. What if they found out? What if they took Simmons away to some secret lab where they would cut her open to see how she worked?

 

When Simmons had first walked up to the floating, dead body, she was fascinated, but she also hoped that she could learn something about herself. She didn’t. The deaths and the floating objects were something quite different from her, an alien virus.

 

For weeks after she had jumped from the plane, Fitz slept next to her so he could help her through the nightmares and hold down the objects in her room so no one else found out.

 

The day things really changed though, was the day Coulson announced their newest mission. “It’s called Storybrooke, Maine. Small town, but there have been reports of some really strange energy coming out of it. Nothing we’ve ever seen before.”  
Jemma felt her stomach drop. She’d never heard of Storybrooke before, but something about it filled her with fear. Fear, but also curiosity.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had been waiting until after the AoS finale to continue this and then I had to wait until I could emotionally function again because that finale destroyed me. This fic is now officially taking place after the AoS finale; the characters will refer to events that happened during the finale but I’m not doing anything with Fitz’s potential brain damage because I have no idea what the series is going to do with it. As far as the OUAT timeline, this is taking place at the start of season 3.

With the plane locked up behind them, the team packed into the suv. They wanted to leave the plane a good distance behind and drive into town so they didn’t gain too much attention. Jemma sat in the back, Fitz beside her, and stared out the window. Storybrooke, such an odd name for a town, but it was kind of cute. She wondered what the town looked like. Skye had tried to look up pictures of it, but there were absolutely none anywhere on the internet. “I guess it’s that boring,” Trip had humorously muttered.

As she looked out the window of the suv, Jemma thought she saw something in the sky, like a veil passing over them. She turned to Fitz, “did you just see that?”  
“See what?” He looked out the window.  
“Nothing. It’s gone now.” And it was; the strange, goldish veil had passed over the woods and their car but then it had disappeared. Had she imagined it?

 

Twenty minutes of thick woods later, Coulson finally turned onto a street with buildings. Nice buildings. The further they drove into town, the more Jemma could see that this town was gorgeous. There was a yellow building with a clock tower and it was the library? Why were there no pictures to be found anywhere of a town that looked as peaceful and welcoming as this one? Coulson parked the car in the parking lot behind a place called “The Rabbit Hole” and May jumped out first, silently surveying the area around them.  
Coulson stepped out next. “We’ll head to the Sheriff’s station first. No point in antagonizing the local law enforcement by making them think we’re going over their heads,” he said when everyone was out of the suv. They walked the block over to where the station was.  
Inside it was quiet and still. Jemma wondered if anyone was even there, it was a small town, perhaps the Sheriff was out on some important business.  
“Anyone here?” Coulson called out.  
There was a little noise in the other room and then a woman appeared in the doorway. She was tall and thin with long dark hair that had a streak of red in it; and she certainly wasn’t dressed like any sheriff Jemma had ever seen. She was wearing tight black pants, a red shirt to match her hair, and a black leather jacket. The woman looked…surprised to see them there. “Can I help you?” she asked, but it wasn’t so much a question asking what she could do for them, so much as a question expressing her confusion; but what confused this woman, Jemma couldn’t be sure.  
“Are you the Sheriff here?” Coulson asked.  
The woman hesitated. Was she thinking about her answer? “Yes. Well, more like Acting Sheriff, the Sheriff is in—” she stopped, swallowed, and then continued. “The Sheriff is out for a week or so. Why don’t you come in,” she motioned into the room she had emerged from.  
The six of them followed her into a room that had a desk with a little paperwork, a coat rack that held one black leather jacket with red across the shoulders and a red leather jacket, a separate office with the door closed but with windows for walls (Jemma assumed that was the actual Sheriff’s office), and two empty jail cells.  
The acting Sheriff sat down on the desk. “So what can I do for you?”  
Coulson spoke. “We’re investigating a strange, possibly dangerous energy we detected coming from this town earlier today.”  
“You’re from the government?”  
“Something like that.”  
“Right, let me call the interim Mayor.” Interim? Was no one in this town an official? As if the woman had read Jemma’s thoughts, she said “We haven’t had the chance to host elections for Mayor yet. Our last Mayor…”  
Jemma wasn’t sure she wanted to know what happened to the last Mayor. Everything was strange about this town. The woman picked up a phone and dialed a number. When the interim Mayor on the other side picked up, the woman said “hey Katheryn, I mean Miss Nolan, there are people from the government here. No, I’m not making this up, I’m serious. Okay.” She hung the phone back up and turned to them, “Miss Nolan will be here in only a couple of minutes, turns out she was across the street at the diner. Wait, I haven’t even told you my name yet, I’m Ruby, Ruby Lucas.”  
“Well it’s nice to meet you Miss Lucas,” Coulson held out his hand and she shook it.  
True to her word, in a couple of minutes, a blonde woman who seemed to emanate authority, walked through the door. “Hello, I’m interim Mayor Nolan, you must be the people from the government because I’ve never seen any of you before. Honestly, I was hoping Ruby was just joking.” None of them responded to this, Ruby shrugged her shoulders. “So how can I help you?”  
“They said they detected so dangerous energy coming from the town,” Ruby informed for them.  
“Ah, of course you did, may I speak with Ruby alone a minute?” Katheryn Nolan did not wait for their approval, she just walked over to Ruby, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the far corner of the room which wasn’t all that far away, this was a small station. They whispered so all Jemma could pick up was little things like “…might as well…can’t leave anyway…some forgetting potion…” Forgetting potion? Must be a metaphor. Jemma hoped they weren’t planning on drugging any of them with something. The two women stopped whispering and turned to them, “We’ve decided we’re going to cooperate in your investigation,” Nolan told them, “Why don’t three of you come with me to my office in City Hall where we’ll talk, and three of you can go with Miss Lucas to go figure out the energy or whatever it is you do.”  
“To be honest, Miss Nolan, I would rather not split my team up,” Coulson responded.  
Katheryn Nolan didn’t miss a beat when she said earnestly, “I’m sure you wouldn’t normally, but trust me, it’s best we talk a few things over in my office.”  
“Would there even be any energy hanging around still?” Ruby asked.  
Fitz looked down at the device in his hand, “actually, yes there are some faint readings coming from a couple of miles…that way” he pointed to the left.  
“From the forest,” Ruby sighed, “no surprise there.”  
“Fitzsimmons, you’re with Miss Lucas.” Coulson turned around to his two specialists, trying to determine which one to send with the scientists.  
“I’ll look after them,” May offered, her usual no expression on her face. Coulson nodded.  
***  
Half an hour later they were wandering through the woods, Fitz and Simmons leading with their devices. Ruby had been rambling on the entire time to May who never said anything in response. “So which one of you is Fitzsimmons?” she yelled up to them.  
They didn’t turn around or break stride as Jemma pointed to her partner and said “Fitz” and he pointed to her and said “Simmons.”  
“Oh, that’s cool,” Ruby said.  
“Woah, there’s a hot spot coming up right in front of us.” Fitz shouted out for them to all hear.  
They followed the readings into a clearing with a single well in the center. “A well?” Jemma was admittedly confused.  
“Of course it’s the well,” Ruby said.  
Jemma turned around to face the acting Sheriff. “You talk as if you seem to know what’s actually going on.” Ruby froze at her words. “So do you? Is there anything you’d like to tell us?”  
“Um, no?” Ruby said.  
Jemma turned back around, annoyed. She walked up to the well and looked down. But at the sight of the drop and the water at the bottom, she stumbled back feeling nauseated. “Excuse me a moment.” She stumbled back a few more steps and then fell to the ground where she sat huddled up.  
“Jemma!” Fitz ran over to her, slid on the ground next to her, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.  
“Fitz, I just—”  
“Sh, I know.” He rested his head on hers. “I don’t think I could look at it either.  
“Are you guys okay?” Ruby asked. To her credit, she sounded genuinely worried.  
Fitz looked up at May. “It’s the water.”  
May’s expression did not change, but she responded quietly with “I understand.” She walked up to the well and looked down into it. “It appears to be normal.”  
“Can you collect a sample?” Fitz asked.  
Jemma listened to the sounds of the wheel as May lowered the bucket into the depths of the well and then back up. May walked over to Jemma’s bag on the ground and pulled out some sample vials. In a minute she called to them, “I’ve got it.”  
Fitz let go of Jemma and stood up. Jemma took a deep breath and followed. She picked her bag off the ground. “We should get these to the lab.”  
May nodded. “I’ll call Coulson.” She pulled out her phone as Fitz and Simmons headed back to the road.  
“Wait,” Ruby called to them. “When you say ‘lab’, do you mean some place outside Storybrooke?”  
“Yes,” Fitz answered. “It’s on our bus.”  
“That might not be the best idea.”  
“And why wouldn’t it be?”  
“It just wouldn’t.”  
May caught up with them. “Skye’s bring the car around. We’ll come back and pick up Coulson and Trip later.”  
By the time they made it to the road Skye was there waiting for them. “How’d it go?” she asked.  
“We got some samples,” May answered. Skye’s smile dropped as she understood May’s answer and FitzSimmons’ lack of one to mean that things did not go perfectly. “Let’s get back to the bus.”  
“Wait!” Ruby yelled.  
They all stopped and turned around. Ruby stared at them as she thought through what she wanted to say. “Let me go with you.”  
“That’s not really allowed,” Skye answered.  
“Just to the edge of the town, trust me.”  
May carefully surveyed Ruby. “Okay, get in.”  
They drove in silence for about ten minutes before Ruby yelled out “STOP” to Skye just a few feet short of the town sign. Skye stopped the car. When Ruby opened her door and realized no one else was opening theirs, she said “you’ll want to come out of the car with me, there’s something you need to see.”  
The four Shield agents hesitated before doing as Ruby suggested. They followed the acting Sheriff until she stopped walking. She reached out her hand into the air. But it hit something, some invisible wall and Jemma watched it ripple in that same gold she had seen in the sky on their way into town.  
“What was that?” Fitz asked, his voice shaking. Jemma reached out and grabbed his hand.  
“It’s the reason you can’t leave the town. None of us can right now.”  
Skye turned to Ruby. “Why can’t we leave?”  
“This barrier is here for our protection. We thought we put it in place before anyone new came to town, but you guys must have gotten through just in time.”  
Jemma could feel Fitz’s body lose its strength next to her. She could feel her own body going slightly limp. “Then remove the barrier.”  
“We can’t risk it,” Ruby answered and she suddenly looked far more stern than she had seemed all day.  
Fitz’s breathing was sounding louder. Jemma pulled him by his hand back to the car, sitting him down just inside the open door as she leaned against the frame. “We can’t be trapped here,” she said weakly to no one in particular.  
“I’m sorry. It’s just for a little while. Until the real Sheriff gets back.”


	3. Chapter Two

The drive back to the Sheriff's Station was spent entirely in silence and now the four agents and the woman Ruby were all sitting in the station as the light outside dimmed. Jemma had been staring at the coat rack for two full minutes before she decided to finally break the silence. "So what's up with the leather jackets? Do you just really like them or something?"

"What?" Ruby asked, momentarily startled by the sudden question. "Oh, those? Those aren't my jackets. The red one belongs to the Sheriff, Emma Swan, and the black one belongs to…well, it belonged to the Sheriff before her. Emma doesn't like it when his stuff gets moved."

"Is he planning on coming back for it?" Fitz asked.

Ruby seemed to deflate a little. "No, he died. It was about a year ago. Happened in this room. We didn't know then how it had happened, but now," something dark slipped into her features. "Now we know."

Skye looked a little worried. "Can we ask what happened?"

"The Mayor happened."

"Kathryn?" It was May who asked. She didn't look worried, but Jemma knew she was trying to assure the woman was not a threat.

"No, not Kathryn, the real Mayor, or at least the former Mayor. No way we're letting that evil qu- woman run this town again."

That Mayor again. Ruby had mentioned her earlier and Jemma had just assumed something bad might have happened to her. Perhaps something did, but now she was wondering if whatever had happened to the Mayor had happened for good reason. This town was keeping secrets.

The door opened and they heard the muffled voices of the rest of the team. As soon as Coulson, Trip, and Kathryn appeared in the doorway, Fitz stood up. "Sir, they've done something. They've trapped us in this town."

Coulson waved for Fitz to sit back down. "I know. Miss Nolan just finished explaining that to us."

Kathryn stepped forward. "The person who created the protective barrier left town recently and they won't be able to disable it until they return."

"Perhaps if I could look at the device-"

"We don't know exactly where the device is stored, and honestly, that barrier is there for our protection."

This time it was Skye who spoke up. "But how do you exchange with the outside world in the meantime? You know, for food and supplies?"

"We're used to being isolated. And it shouldn't be that long before they return. I'm sorry, but you'll just half to wait until then."

No one pressed any further, they knew it wouldn't do any good; if they wanted a way out, they'd have to find it on their own, but for now they still had a job to do.  Coulson spoke up, "Since we can't get back to the bus, we'll be staying at a local bed & breakfast called Granny's."

"Why's it called Granny's?" Fitz asked.  It wasn't the most important question, but he was curious.

"Because she's my Granny!" Ruby bounced in her seat.

Coulson coughed to silence the interruption. "And Miss Nolan here has agreed to escort FitzSimmons to the hospital and introduce them to a Dr. Whale so they can use his equipment and continue our investigation."

"Miss Lucas," Kathryn said, "if you could please show them the way to Granny's, since you live there."

"Of course." Ruby hopped up. Everyone started to file out of the station as she turned off all the lights and locked up.

Outside the night was settling in. They walked through the streets in silence for a bit. Coulson drove with Ruby sitting in the passenger's seat, her directions the only sounds. Skye was seated directly behind her next to May, and FitzSimmons and Trip were sitting in the back, Simmons in her window seat behind Skye with Fitz squished up against her.

Skye leaned forward a bit. "This town looks so sweet, how long have you lived here."

Ruby sighed. "Sometimes it feels like my whole life, but I know it hasn't been."

"How long have you worked at the Sheriff's department?"

"This time it's only been the few days since the Sheriff left. Last time it was the several weeks she was gone; and the time before that it was only a full day. When I'm not working in law enforcement, I'm a waitress at Granny's Diner."

Skye laughed. "Those are such strange jobs to flip back and forth between. But who am kidding? My job record doesn't look much more stable. Why did you only work one day that time?"

"Turn right here," Ruby said to Coulson first before answering the question. "Well, I had only ever worked as a waitress before that day. I'd gotten in an argument with Granny and Emma let me come work for her. By the end of that day I found a human heart in a box and decided I didn't want to work there anymore."

Simmons felt Fitz curl a bit inward at the sound of a human heart. He didn't like organs or body parts very much, but Simmons wanted to hear more of the story. What had been going on? Who's heart was it? How fresh was it? Before she got to ask any of these questions, Skye spoke again. "So what convinced you to work there again after something like that?"

"I was needed. Emma was…unavailable. Her father took over the station but he needed help and I'd had experience. By then I had remembered a certain strength I had previously forgotten." She turned to Coulson again. "It's that big house up on the right."

Coulson slowed the car and then parked. When Simmons got out she stared up at the large house in the dark, The moon behind it nearly full. None of them had any bags with overnight things because none of them had planned on staying overnight, so they all just took what they were already holding and headed on up to the house.

Inside it was cozy, all the furniture was old and there was a fire going in the stove in the corner. An older woman with her white hair piled into a bun on the top of her head came out of a back room. As soon as she saw the six of them her eyes went wide.

"Granny, these nice people are going to need rooms until Emma and everyone get back to take down the protective barrier." Ruby said as quickly as she could.  
Granny nodded. "So how many rooms will you need?"

Coulson stepped up to the counter. "We'll need three rooms, each with two beds."

As he took care of the rooms, May turned around to speak with the rest of them. "Simmons, you'll room with Skye--"

"Actually," Jemma interrupted. When she realized she had really interrupted Melinda May, she had to take a breath. "If I could. I'd rather room with Fitz." Jemma hadn't been separated from Fitz for a single night since they had been pulled out of the ocean by Fury. For the first few weeks, before and after he had woken up, she'd slept in a chair next to his bed in the infirmary. When he was finally allowed to sleep in a normal bed, whether at the Playground or on the Bus, every night he had either shown up in Simmons' room or she had shown up in his. They couldn't fall asleep until the other was laying next to them. And once they finally fell asleep one of them would have nightmare and the other would need to calm them down. In Jemma's case, Fitz sometimes had to clean up the mess from things getting knocked down or flying across the room.

They never told anyone that they were sharing a room, but Jemma suspected the team already knew. So it didn't surprise her when May nodded and said "I'll share a room Skye, Simmons, you're with Fitz, and Trip, you'll room with Coulson."

Trip nodded and walked over to Ruby. "Are there any clothing stores in town? We didn't expect to stay here."

"Yeah. Modern Fashions, it's right next to the bakery on Main Street. It's small, but you should be able to pick up a few things for while you're here." She looked over at Skye and Simmons. "You two though, I could probably loan you some things if you'd like. You," she pointed at Skye, "I could probably loan some pants, but you," she pointed at Simmons, "are a bit too short, but I can loan you some dresses."

Skye and Simmons looked at each other. Simmons nodded and Skye said "sure!"

"Cool. I'll go run up and pick out some things. I'll meet you at your rooms." And with that she ran up the stairs.

Coulson rejoined the group. "Here are the keys." He handed out large skeleton keys to May and Fitz. Hanging from the keys were large, ornate metal tags that had the room numbers. "We'll reconvene down here at 7:30 and head to the diner for breakfast where we'll decide on the next course of action."

About ten minutes later Simmons was sitting on the edge of the bed closest to the window. They had a forest-view room. She and Fitz had already set their equipment next to the desk.

There was a knock at the door and Fitz opened it to reveal Ruby. "Hey, I've got some clothes for you." She walked over to Jemma. "I could tell you probably don't wear dresses that often so I made sure to grab some looser fitting ones. And I also found a pair of ankle-pants which I thought might fit almost like normal length pants on you. So there's also a nice blouse, and I added a large t-shirt that you could sleep in." She handed the stack to Jemma.

Jemma smiled as she received the clothes. "Thank you. This is really nice of you."

"No problem. I'm just glad I can help." She looked over at Fitz and then back at Jemma. "Goodnight."

"Night." "Goodnight." Fitz and Simmons said at the same time as Ruby left the room.

Jemma looked at Fitz. "I. Um."

Fitz paused for a moment as he tried to understand. "Right." He turned around and Jemma began changing her clothes.

When she finished she said "you can look now." She got into bed, burrowing deep under the covers. Fitz turned out the light, bypassed the second bed entirely, and slipped into bed next to Jemma. They were asleep within a couple minutes.

  
***

  
When he opened his eyes all he could tell was that it was really dark. Fitz wasn't sure what had woken him. He rolled over, expecting to find Simmons in the middle of a nightmare, but when he reached out his arm she wasn't there. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the faint light coming in through the window. He finally saw Jemma standing at the window in her borrowed t-shirt.

He sat up, wondering why she was awake. Then he noticed the items. The table lamp, the two pillows on the other bed, her equipment bag, a couple of the clothes Ruby had brought over, and a book that had been sitting on the desk but was now by the sink, were all floating at various distances from the ground. He got out of bed and pulled the lamp back down, grabbed the book, and pushed her equipment bag down as well. He walked up to her at the window. She was staring out at the forest and didn't seem to notice him at all. "Jemma, are you alright?" She didn't answer. "Jemma?" He placed his hand on her arm and she jumped at the contact.  The clothes and pillows fell down.  
She looked up at him. "Fitz?" She looked around the room. "How long have I been standing here?"

"I don't know, I just woke up." He was worried, but he didn't want to say that out loud just yet. "Why don't you come back to bed."


	4. Chapter Three

After breakfast Fitz and Simmons had gone to the hospital to meet with Kathryn Nolan, as planned, and were now sitting in a waiting room waiting to meet Storybrooke General Hospital's head doctor.  After about twenty minutes of awkward silence, a man in a white coat and dark blond hair came down the hallway.  "Miss Nolan."  He nodded to Kathryn and then looked at the two scientists.  "You must be doctors Fitz and Simmons."

FitzSimmons stood up at the same time.  "Yep."  "That's us."

"I'm Dr. Whale.  So you need somewhere to work?"  One of his eyebrows popped up in question and he looked to Kathryn to explain what was going on.  She stood up.

"Yes.  They're investigating some strange energy they detected from our town.  Yesterday they collected some samples from the well and until Storybrooke is open again, they need to use one of our labs to analyze their samples."

Dr. Whale stared at Kathryn for a second, uneasy with the situation.  He turned back to the scientists.  "Right.  Well, we have a lab down the hall here that you could use.  If you'll just follow me."

"If it's alright," Kathryn interrupted before anyone had moved away.  "I'm going to head back to city hall.  Feel free to call me if you need anything."  Simmons nodded and Kathryn headed for the door.  FitzSimmons followed Dr. Whale down a long hallway and around the corner before he stopped in front of a door.  He opened it and let them in.

The lab was small and the equipment outdated compared with what they were used to, but they'd make due.  "You two can use this lab for as long as you need, I'll try to keep the doctors and nurses out of the way, but it probably shouldn't be a problem.  Between the town being closed and... certain people being gone for a bit, I expect today will be a bit slow.  Still, you never know when there will be an emergency.  Anyway, if you need me just tell someone at the front desk."  He hesitated for a moment and then left.

Fitz shook his head.  "There's definitely something weird going on in this town.  They said that it was a device that's holding up the town barrier, but I can't find any readings of a source."

"Well," Simmons held up the bag that had the water samples.  "Maybe we can figure out what secrets they're keeping."  With that they got to work, but to their dismay, nothing about the water was strange.  It was just plain water.

"We didn't know for sure that it was the water.  The energy readings we were getting could have come from anything out there.  We'll just have to go back out later," Fitz said.

Jemma sighed.  "You're probably right."  She took her gloves off and picked up the last closed vial to put in back in the bag just in case they'd need it later.

"Wait.  What's that?" Fitz asked, worried.  He was pointing at the vial.  Jemma looked down at it in her hand.  It was glowing like there was a white-gold light coming from within it.

"I don't know.  What changed?  I just picked it up."

"That's what changed.  May collected the samples.  I put the water on the slides.  This is the first time you've touched it."

"But I'm not touching the water, I'm just holding the glass vial."

"Yes, but glass has never reacted like that.  It has to be the water."  He walked over to the microscope and picked up the slide that just had a few drops of the water on it.  "You don't have to if you don't want to, but try touching the water itself.  Let's see what happens."

Jemma didn't really want to touch the water, but she wanted to know what was going on, so she reached out her left and quickly touched her index finger to the water on the slide, pulling away quickly.  The water on the slide started to glow just like the water in the vial.  They both stared at the water confused and in awe.  "But how?"  She reached out her finger again, touching it for a few seconds.  She lifted her finger slowly and the water seemed to follow.  "That's incredible."

"Jemma, I think I have an idea of what's going on here."  She looked up at him, wondering what he had thought of, and the water splashed back down onto the slide.  "Just hear me out, but I think it's magic.  The readings we got.  That force field surrounding the town.  The way the water is reacting to you.  I think it's magic."

"You know I'm going to disagree with that theory."

"Yes, I know, because magic isn't something you're on board with, but we both know what you're capable of--"

"There are plenty of people who have gifts."

"But no one in the Gifted Index has ever shown quite the same gifts as you have.  I'm just saying that at the very least we can't rule it out."

"Fine.  What do we tell the others?"

"Nothing.  This involves you now.  I don't think we should tell them anything, at least until we know more."

Jemma nodded.  "So we'll tell them we didn't find anything and that we need to go back out to the forest to see if we can find anything else."

"Sounds like a plan."

***

At noon all six team members were seated at a corner booth at Granny's Diner.  Coulson and May had walked around the town earlier but they hadn't found anything unusual apart from the townspeople's unwillingness to answer questions.  Though it was  _that_ unusual for people to not want to talk to men in suits.  Trip and Skye had quietly gone to City Hall, trying to remain unnoticed as Skye worked on her laptop attempting to see what the town was like digitally only to find that there weren't any digital files at all.  It reminded her too much of Cybertek which only made her more suspicious.  When it came time for FitzSimmons to report on what they had learned that day, both quickly said they'd found nothing and then fallen silent again.  Simmons knew their silence might cause alarm, but she didn't know what else to say.  They couldn't keep the town's possible magic a secret from the team forever.

A bell rang as the front door opened and Simmons watched a beautiful woman in a gray skirt and blouse walked in, her brown hair loose around her solemn face.  The woman walked up to the bar and sat down.  She didn't say anything as Granny put a burger and an iced tea in front of her.  The woman just sat there staring at the burger.  Simmons looked over at Skye sitting next to her and noticed that Skye was staring at the mysterious woman as well.  Skye glanced down and Simmons and raised an eyebrow.

Twenty minutes later the woman stood up from the bar and walked out of the Diner.  She hadn't touched the hamburger.  As soon as the door closed, a red-headed man in the booth in front of them let out an audible sigh.

"Let me out of the booth," Skye whispered quickly to Jemma.

"What?"

"Let me out of the booth," she repeated a bit slower.  Fitz, at the end stood up, Jemma slid out and stood up, and finally Skye was free.  Jemma watched Skye walk up to the red-headed man's booth and sit down across from him.  "I'm Skye."  She held out her hand in greeting.  As he shook it she looked up at Jemma, tilting her head as a signal for Jemma to join her.  Jemma slid into the booth next to her.

The man looked between the two of them.  "Um, my name is Dr. Hopper, but you can just call me Archie if you'd like."

Skye smiled.  "Archie.  Cool.  This is Simmons," she pointed to Jemma who just smiled weakly in response.  "We were wondering; who was that girl?  She came in, didn't eat anything, and then just left."

Archie sighed again.  "I know, I'm worried about her.  Her name is Belle."

"So is there something wrong with her or...."  Skye's question drifted out as she waited for him to fill in the blanks.

"Um, sort of.  She's gone through a lot of difficult things lately and her uh, her boyfriend left town recently.  We don't know that he'll come back."

Jemma straightened at this information.  "A lot of people seem to have left town recently.  The sheriff, whoever is responsible for that barrier.  Something has happened with your mayor, but no one has said exactly what yet."

"Well, the Mayor.  She... she wasn't that great of a mayor.  She's gone too.  They all left together."

"What, like some convention for important people in a small town?" Skye asked.

"Something like that, yeah," Archie responded.

Jemma thought about Belle again.  "Why wouldn't he come back?  You said you didn't know if her boyfriend would come back."

Archie shifted in his seat.  "He might not- That's to say there's a good chance he'll die.  Belle stayed optimistic right up until the moment he left, but his absence has been hard on her."

Skye touched Jemma's arm lightly.  "Let's go talk to her.  I don't know, keep her company or something."  She looked at Archie.  "Where does she work?"

"Belle's the town librarian.  Be kind with her."

Skye nodded.  "Don't worry, I just want to talk with her for a little bit.  I know what it's like to be alone."

Simmons stood up from the booth and as soon as Skye was on her feet, she grabbed Simmons' arm and started pulling her to the door  Fitz saw them leaving and called out, "wait, where are you two going?"

"To the library," Skye answered.  "You can come with if you want, but you have to be on your best behavior."

"What's my worst behavior?"

The three of them walked past only a few people as they headed down the street to the large yellow building with the sign that read "Library."  Inside there was no one except the woman from the diner sitting behind the counter.  "Hey, Belle?" Skye broke the silence.

Belle's eyes shot up at the voice.  "Hello, can I help you?"

"My name's Skye.  This is FitzSimmons," she gestured to the scientists who waved to Belle in unison.  "We're in town for a few days and we just wanted to say hi."

"I heard about you.  You all made it into the town just as the barrier went up.  I'm sorry."

"Oh, well, it's not your fault."

Belle stared at Skye for a moment as if she was about to say something, but she just shook her head and said "you're right, of course.  Still, I'm sorry that you're trapped here for however long that turns out to be."

Skye approached the counter slowly.  "Well, I'm sorry to hear that things haven't been so great for you either lately."

Belle smiled weakly, she looked about ready to cry.  "So what are you doing here in Storybrooke?"

"Investigating.  They're," she pointed to FitzSimmons behind her.  "Probably doing most of the work at the moment.  It's all science stuff."

Belle seemed to perk up a little at that.  "Really?  Have you found anything interesting about our town?"

Simmons wanted to say yes, she wanted to ask the woman questions about what she and Fitz thought might actually be going on.  But Skye was in the room so she shook her head.  "No, not yet.  But we're still looking."  Then she remembered the way Belle looked when Skye was talking about the barrier.  "Do you know anything about the force field surrounding the town?"

Belle visibly swallowed before shaking her head again.  "I only know that it's there to protect us from people that might want to do us harm.  It has to stay up until Rum- Mr. Gold comes back.  Or Sheriff Swan."

"Who would want to harm any of you?" Skye asked.

"Just people.  You'd be surprised at the things that happen in this town."

"Someone told me you'd been through a lot lately.  What happened here?"

Belle stared at the counter.  "It's nothing.  Don't worry about it."

Skye watched the woman for a moment.  "You know, we've been through some pretty bad things recently too.  Our whole lives were turned upside down.  Someone we trusted, we really cared about, turned out to be this really horrible guy.  And he almost... we almost lost," she looked at Fitz and Simmons.  Belle followed her gaze, understanding.

Simmons spoke up.  "It was pretty bad.  Everything we thought we knew was just turned on its head.  And then," she reached down and grabbed Fitz's hand.  "We nearly died in a box on the ocean floor."

"And even before all that things were pretty difficult," Skye spoke again.  "I got shot and nearly died."

"I was shot as well," Belle spoke quietly.  "There was this man, he left town recently, but when he was here he shot me, just because I loved someone he hated.  She shot me and then something worse happened and I didn't remember who I was anymore.  All these horrible things were going on around town and they kept me in the hospital because they didn't know what to do.  Then I remembered just as..."  She stopped talking and looked up at them.  "Just as more things were happening.  That just happened.  Then Mr. Gold left."

"Just happened?" Simmons asked.  "The energy source might have--"  She was interrupted as the door to the library burst open.

Ruby walked in and closed the door behind her.  "Belle, I thought I'd just come and hang out."  She stopped when she noticed the other three.  "I didn't know you had company."

"It's okay," Skye said.  "We were just leaving."

"Wait," Fitz spoke to Ruby.  "Simmons and I were hoping to go back into the forest today.  Do you think you could take us back to where we were yesterday?"

Ruby shifted her weight from her right foot to her left as she quickly glanced out the window.  "Um, could it wait until tomorrow?  Tonight's just not a good night."

"Of course.  We'll see you tomorrow."

***

That night Fitz woke up again to see Jemma standing by the window.  He glanced around their room quickly, but everything seemed to be in it's place.  He got out of bed and approached her.  "Jemma?"  She looked over at him immediately.  So at least it wasn't the same weird episode as the night before.  "Jemma, what are you looking at?"

"The forest."  Her gaze returned to the window.  "I think we should go to the forest."

"Lucas said she'd take us there tomorrow--"

"No, I think we should go tonight."

"We can't go tonight, Jemma, everyone is still asleep."  He looked down at both of their clothes.  "We should still be asleep."

"I don't know how to explain it, Fitz, I just really feel like I need to go out there tonight.  Please, just trust me."

He didn't want to go out there at nighttime.  He wanted to figure out what was going on with Simmons, but he didn't know how to understand it except to follow her in what ever it was she was trying to work out for herself.  "Okay, let's change our clothes first.  We're not going out there dressed like this."

Fifteen minutes later they were walking quickly through the dark and silent Storybrooke headed for the tree line.  It was chilly out and Fitz rubbed his arms through his sweater.  Neither of them said anything; Simmons seemed intent on something but she didn't share what it was.  They were well into the forest before any sound interrupted that wasn't their own shoes snapping twigs.  The sound was a rustle in the bushes and they both stopped moving immediately.  Fitz was holding his breath.  They stood as still as possible for a full minute before Simmons finally moved.  She turned around to face him.  "What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know.  It was weird.  It was like I could feel it near--" she stopped talking and Fitz wasn't sure why.  Then he followed her gaze.  Several meters away was a large, black wolf.  He reached back and held on to Simmons' arm.

"That's a wolf," he whispered.  "Are there even wolves in these woods?"

"Well, there is that one," she answered.  Fitz tilted his head in acknowledgement.  "Does it seem familiar to you?"

Before Fitz could comment on how strange a question that was they were both suddenly pulled back behind a tree by someone.  Fitz's hands went up to try to push away their attacker.  But the man quickly held up both his hands.  "Wait," he whispered.  "I'm trying to help.  What are you two even doing out here?"

"What are we doing out here?" Simmons asked.  "What are you doing out in the woods in the middle of the night grabbing random people?"

"I think by 'grabbing random people' what you mean is 'saving your life.'"

"From the wolf?"

"The wolf?  No, she's harmless.  Well, she might be a bit upset tomorrow if she realized you'd seen her, but she wouldn't hurt you too much.  No, I'm talking about something else.  There are much scarier things out here than her."

"Then what are you doing out here?" Fitz asked.

Jemma didn't hear the question so she didn't wait for an answer.  She was staring around the tree at the wolf.  "She's Ruby Lucas, isn't she?"

The man glanced at Jemma, confused.  "Yes, she is.  How did you know?"

Jemma shrugged her shoulders.  "I don't know.  I could just feel it."

The man's look of confusion did not lesson in the slightest.  "Come on, we should get out of these woods.  I live near here."  He led them through the trees.  "My name's Jefferson, by the way."

"I'm Simmons."  "Fitz"

"Wait, you spoke at the same time, I didn't catch it."

"I'm Fitz, she's Simmons."

"Fitz and Simmons.  FitzSimmons.  Got it."

Fitz laughed under his breath.  Complete strangers were now going for the name combination.  It was ridiculous.

They followed Jefferson for a good ten minutes before coming out of the forest and ending up right in front of a massive mansion.  "We'll need to be quiet, my daughter is asleep upstairs," Jefferson said as he held the door open for them.

"Is it just you and your daughter?" Simmons asked.

"Yep.  Do you want any tea?"

"Well, we should probably head back to town."

"It's nighttime, I don't own a car since the last one was destroyed by a wraith, and I really wouldn't recommend walking around here at night."

"About that again," Fitz spoke.  "What were  _you_ doing in the forest at night.  And did you just say your car was destroyed by a wraith?"

"Yes I did."  In the light Fitz could see that the man had a strange attire complete with a large, black scarf wrapped around his neck.  "And I was in the forest because I saw you two wandering around out there through a telescope.  It would be best if you just stay here tonight, we have plenty of empty rooms.  So would you like any tea?"

They had walked into a room with a piano and a small table on the floor.  Around the table were a few stuffed toys with their own little tea cups.  They were all wearing top hats that were clearly meant for human heads much larger than their stuffed ones.  "Perhaps we'll have some in the morning," Simmons answered.  "We should probably get some sleep now."

Jefferson nodded.  "Sounds good.  Do you want separate rooms or?"

"Just one room is fine."

"Okay, follow me."  He led them upstairs and down a hallway before opening a door.  "You can sleep here.  See you in the morning."  And with that he was gone.  They walked into the room, slipped off their shoes, and slipped into the already made guest-bed.

Just as they were falling asleep Fitz spoke up.  "Between the hats, the tea, and the general weirdness, doesn't he make you think of the Mad Hatter a bit?"


	5. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long, I've been really busy finishing up university.

It was the early morning light drifting in through the window that woke Jemma up.  She'd always been a morning person, but she wished she could go back to sleep now; the night had been long and she was tired.  But then she thought of the bed she and Fitz were in and how it was not the bed at Granny's.  Jemma pulled up an arm from where it was crushed under her stomach and shoved Fitz's shoulder.  "Fitz, we need to get back to town.  Any minute now Coulson will realize we're missing."

Fitz's face scrunched up as he burrowed further down into the blankets.  Jemma climbed out of bed and pulled the blankets back, exposing Fitz to the somewhat chilly morning air.  The two slipped their shoes back on, attempted to neaten their hair, and stepped out into the hallway.  Jefferson was walking down the hall.  "Good, you're awake.  Breakfast?"

Jemma looked at Fitz who shrugged his shoulders and then back to Jefferson.  "Yes, please, but then we really need to get back to town."

Jefferson nodded and then led the way down to the kitchen on the first floor of the mansion.  The kitchen was filled with sunlight and had a little table next to one of the windows.  There was probably a dining room somewhere but Jemma assumed Jefferson probably preferred eating at this table.  She assumed so because already seated at the table was a little girl, Jefferson's daughter, eating a waffle with a cup of tea next to her plate.  Jefferson walked to the stove where the kettle was.  "Do you want any tea?" he asked.  "It's a blend that Grace and I make together, black tea with dried peaches and apricots."

"Sure," Jemma responded as she sat down at the table.  Fitz sat down next to her and she wondered for the first time that morning that he hadn't said a word since he woke up.  She looked at the girl across the table and held out her hand.  "I'm Simmons."

"I'm Grace," she shook Jemma's hand.  She looked across at Fitz.  "And you are?"

He answered without any hesitation, "Fitz, and are we going to talk about the whole magic thing now?"

Jemma nearly choked at his boldness, but Jefferson seemed completely unfazed.  He carried their cups of tea and placed them down on the table in front of them.  "What would you like to know?"

"So there  _is_ magic in this town," Fitz said, half as a question.

"Of course.  I'm surprised you had to ask, considering your friend here."  Jefferson gestured to Jemma.

"You know about me?"  This couldn't be good.  She still wasn't even entirely sure about what she was, or rather what she could do and what the cause was.  How could a man she barely knew be so certain about things she wasn't?

"Last night, in the forest, you could tell the wolf was Ruby.  That wasn't just some lucky guess you had."

"What is she?"  Jemma knew with certainty that the wolf was Ruby, but she didn't understand  _how._ Or maybe she did understand how, but she wasn't completely read to believe it.  Then again Bruce Banner could turn into a giant green man, so why couldn't a young woman turn into a wolf?  Except that Banner didn't really change species, just size, color, strength, personality, etc.  Ruby apparently could grow fur, a tail, different teeth, different shaped limbs, and likely a different digestive system.

Instead of answering, Jefferson countered, "What were you doing in the forest?"

She knew they could probably play this game all day and it would lead nowhere.  She briefly considered dropping the issue and keeping her secrets, but she didn't even understand her secrets enough to know if they were worth keeping or even really secrets at all, so she decided on honesty.  "I felt the need to go out there.  I have both nights we've been here, but I don't know exactly why I felt that way."

"Hmm,"  Jefferson leaned against the counter, sipping his own cup of tea as he thought.  "The full moon wasn't until last night so it wasn't that.  Have you ever experienced this before?"

"No."

"Aside from figuring out that the wolf was Ruby, what else can you do?"

"What is Ruby?"  Jemma wasn't going to leave this conversation with nothing, even if Jefferson's line of thought may eventually be beneficial to her.

"Ruby is a werewolf.  Has been all her life, the way I've understood it."  He took another sip of tea.  "What else can you do?"

"Possible telekinesis.  I've never been able to really control it, but it appears to be attached to my emotional state."

"How can Ruby be a werewolf?" Fitz asked.  Jemma didn't feel like he'd stolen her question time, that was exactly the question she'd planned on asking.

"It's in her family.  She inherited it from her mother who inherited it from her grandmother.  If I remember correctly, her grandmother was infected by another werewolf.  Is there anything else that you can do?  Anything strange at all?"

Jemma paused, trying to think through her life.  It was Fitz who answered instead.  "She's weirdly okay and maybe even obsessed with dead and other morbid things.  She had a dead cat in the lab once.  Left it's liver right next to my lunch.  Didn't bother her but I was put off for the whole day.  Maybe it's nothing, though."

Jefferson thought about this.  "No, it could be something."

Jemma figured out her next question.  "If both Ruby and Granny have the same... abnormality, and judging from what we saw in the water, does everyone in this town have something different about them?"

"Well--"

Grace coughed and her father immediately stopped talking.  He looked at her and the two seemed to say something to each other without actually speaking out loud.

Then Jefferson started speaking again.  "You could probably say everyone in town was slightly different, but no, not everyone has magic.  You're from England?"

Jemma nodded.  "Yes.  Well, I'm adopted and my parents never could figure out exactly where I'm from and who my birth parents are, but as far as I know I'm from England."

"Interesting."

"So does the whole town know and they were just keeping it from us?"

"Yes, of course.  We're a town of people that don't quite belong... here.  We aren't about to divulge all our safely kept secrets to a group of strangers from the government.  That said, I heard you came to town with a whole team of people and I'd prefer it if you didn't tell them any of this--"

Jemma wanted to interrupt him and say that she couldn't promise anything.

"--For our sake and for yours."

But then he said that last part and she realized that maybe keeping this secret might be a good thing.  She loved the team and trusted them all greatly, but even with S.H.E.L.D. basically gone, she still had a fear of being isolated, of them not trusting her, and any one of them looking at her any differently than they currently did.  She didn't want things to change anymore than they already had.

 

After they had eaten Jefferson grabbed his coat to walk them back to town.  Grace stayed in the house, Jefferson's comment being that as long as school was still postponed h preferred she stayed there and away from the town where crazy and dangerous things kept happening.  As soon as they were walking up the path to Granny's, Coulson came striding out the door.  "Where have you two been?!"  Behind him Jemma could see May and Trip in the doorway.  "You've been missing all morning, we were about to go out and search for you.  No note.  No way to contact you."

Jemma frantically tried to think of something to say but Fitz beat her too it.  "I'm sorry sir, it's my fault.  I just thought it wouldn't hurt to get an early start.  I didn't think it through."

The fury in Coulson's eyes started to abate a little but he still looked pretty angry.  "Do not do it again.  The last time we couldn't find you two..."  He didn't finish his sentence.  He didn't need to, no one would ever forget that day.

Jefferson stepped forward.  "Hello, sir, my name is Jefferson."  He held out his hand and Coulson shook it.  "FitzSimmons here were at my house for much of the morning."

"You look familiar," Coulson said.  "Have you ever been in DC?"

Jefferson shook his head.  "No sir, I've never been outside of Storybrooke."  He stepped back and looked at Fitz and Simmons.  "If you need anything, let me know."

"Thank you." "Thanks."

Jefferson nodded to Coulson, turned around, and walked back the way he came.

The scientists turned back to Coulson.  "Have you two eaten?"  They nodded.  "Good.  Miss Lucas is here.  She said you requested a return trip to the forest."  He led the way to the house where Ruby was standing in the lobby.  It was hard not for Jemma to immediately think of the fact that the woman in front of her had the ability to turn into a large wolf.  A werewolf.  Jemma was in the same room as a werewolf.  Two werewolves, according to Jefferson, since Granny was likely around somewhere.

Ruby stood up from where she had been leaning against the counter.  "You two wanted to go to the forest again, right?"

"Yes, if you could please take us to the well again."  Jemma managed to say.

"Alright, I've got maybe an hour before I have to be at the diner to give Ashley her break, so we should leave now."

***

They were well into the forest and Jemma was still trying to figure out exactly what to say.  As far as Ruby knew they were just a couple of scientists that needed more samples, and more samples certainly wouldn't hurt, but for now it would be looking deeper into something they still didn't understand enough.  But they did know more now than what the water could tell them in Storybrooke's hospital labs, any work with the water would have to wait until they finally made it back to the Bus.  In the meantime they knew a lot more about what was going on than Ruby was aware, and they needed to understand more about the town.  Maybe if they could understand more about the town, Jemma could understand more about herself.  She could feel Fitz's eyes on her, wondering the same thing she was.

By the time they reached the well, Jemma had decided that the best thing she could do was exactly what she did in Jefferson's kitchen this morning - she had to be honest.  In her little time here she felt as though honesty was something this town full of secrets severely lacked and yet desperately desired.  Knowing all that she knew now and thinking back on all the people she had met, Kathryn Nolan seemed the only person remotely comfortable with hiding things from them.

"Can you retrieve the water?" she asked Ruby.  She was not going to make the same mistake as last time they were here.

"Sure." Ruby answered, and she covered the distance between them and the well, lowered the bucket, and pulled it back up.  As soon as the bucket had cleared the edge of the well, Jemma took a deep breath and walked up to it, willing herself to focus and to not look down no matter what happened.

Fitz had instinctively followed her and she looked back to him for a moment, trying to draw up enough courage to move on with her hastily thought-up plan.  She looked back at Ruby and the bucket and reached her hand out, stopping just above the water.  "We need your help with something, but I need to show you what it is first."  She lowered her hand so that it touched the surface of the water in the bucket.  The water instantly started to glow white-gold.

Ruby stumbled a step away from the bucket before reigning in her shock and moving back.  "You have magic."  It wasn't a question.

Jemma scrunched her face as she willed herself to say it.  "Yes, I do."

Fitz stepped up and lightly held onto her arm.  "She does, but the rest of our team doesn't know.  We need your help."

"I don't know why, or what it is, or what to do with it.  I've just hid it from everyone my whole life.  Well, everyone apart from Fitz.  And I thought, after seeing you in the forest last night, that you might be able to help," Jemma finished.

"You saw me in the forest last night?"

"Yes, I hope that's okay."

"Um, I guess.  It isn't something I broadcast to strangers."

"Can you help me?"

"I don't know, I've never seen someone do that with water before."

"Do you know someone who might have?"

"Mr. Gold, but he's--"

"Left town."

Ruby stared out at the forest for a moment as she thought.  "I  _might_ be able to help you, or at least know some people who can.  Meet me at the library at 8 tonight."

***

At one minute before 8, Jemma and Fitz entered the library.  Belle was standing behind the desk and she smiled when she saw them.  Standing in front of the ornate elevator door was a woman Jemma had never seen before.  Belle stepped out from behind the counter and gestured to the new woman.  "This is Astrid.  Astrid, this is Jemma.  And that one is Fitz."

Jemma shook Astrid's hand as the woman said in a small but calming voice, "it's nice to meet you."

The door opened behind them and Ruby walked in with Archie.  She immediately noticed Simmons standing next to Astrid.  "Good, so you've all met.  Simmons, these are the people that can hopefully help you.  Archie has lived for decades as a guide and conscience, Astrid was training to be a fairy godmother, and Belle is a genius who can research what you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tea Jefferson mentions is the official Disney Mad Tea Party Blend.  
> Also, I couldn't help slightly referencing Sebastian Stan's performance as The Winter Soldier.


	6. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story will now start to diverge from OUaT canon. It's kind of important to do so, since having six new characters in town is bound to change things.

"Just take a deep breath and try to relax," Dr. Hopper said in a calm, soothing tone.

Simmons did as she was told, or tried to.  Eyes closed, she took a deep breath and focused on the book on the table in front of her.  She'd been trying to move the book with her mind for a couple of minutes now and it wasn't working.  She'd never intentionally tried to use.... magic.  Yes, it was magic and she might as well get use to admitting as much, she'd never intentionally tried to use magic before and it wasn't helping that right now she still had so many questions.  Simmons popped open and eye and looked up at the ginger man standing in front of her.  She caught a glimpse of the long-limbed woman standing behind him and opened her yes completely.  "When you say you were training to be a fairy god-mother," she addressed the woman, Astrid Nova.  "What exactly do you mean?"

"Oh well, um," Ms. Nova's voice was sweet.  "It's sort of a figure of speech.  Basically, I was training to use magic to help people."

"But why did you stop training?" Simmons asked.

Dr. Hopper cleared his throat.  "Dr. Simmons, you need to focus.  When you used magic in the past, however unintentionally, what do you think triggered it?"

Simmons thought back through her memories to every moment she noticed things lifting around her.  "Fear.  It was always things like nightmares or hearing random sounds at night when I was younger.  I learned to get a hold on my emotions so that I wouldn't start.... whatever it is that I can do, every time I was afraid.  Then I jumped off a plane several months ago and it got bad again, but Fitz has always been there to help--"

"You jumped off a plane?"  Dr. Hopper sounded worried.  He took a breath before he spoke again.  "Perhaps you should try tapping into that fear then.  I know it isn't the easiest thing to ask of you, but it's a place to start."

"Right, okay."  Simmons closed her eyes again as nervousness began bubbling up in her chest.  She had intended to recall jumping off the plane, but all the blues of the lab blurred into the blues of the ocean.  She remembered how the cold of the pod seemed to fade away at Fitz's words, that he was going to  _die._ She held onto to him, refusing to really let go as her heart was choking her and nothing made sense.   _He was her best friend in the world.  Of course he couldn't really mean it, couldn't really expect her to live in a world without him.  It doesn't make any sense.  A world like that wouldn't make any sense.  They'd fix this together--_ But he pressed the button and she screamed as the water rushed in to take away their breath and she had to--

There was a flurry of loud sounds as the book fell on the table in front of her and behind her and to the side of her.  Simmons covered her head with her arms, confused about what was going on in the library.  In a moment she felt Fitz's familiar hands on her arms and she slowly pulled them down, opening her eyes to a mess of books and paper.  The book on the table that she had been focusing on had fallen back to the table, but all of the books on the surrounding shelves and fallen as well.  Belle stood a little hunched in shock behind a counter.  Ruby, Dr. Hopper, and Ms. Nova had all backed up against a wall on the other side of the table.  "I'm sorry."  Why did she think this was a good idea?  Someone could get hurt because of her.

"No," Dr. Hopper stammered.  "It worked.  Perhaps the results were a little unexpected, but you shouldn't feel ashamed for that."

Fitz touched her right shoulder lightly.  She looked up at his face.  "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," she answered just as quietly.  "A little shaken up, but I'm alright."

He let go of her shoulder and straightened up, satisfied with her answer.

Belle stepped from behind the counter.  "So that was rather powerful.  Are there any other manifestations of your magic?"

"There was the strange reaction the water from the well has to me."

"It glowed," Ruby quickly provided.

"Glowed..." Belle murmured to herself.  "Anything else that you can think of?  Anything out of the ordinary?"

Simmons shrugged her shoulders.  "I can't think of anything else."

"There is her strange lack of discomfort and interest in all manner of the grotesquely dead," Fitz said, staring up at the ceiling like he was trying to make sense of this fact himself.

"Hey," Simmons complained.

"What?" Fitz defended.  "She said ' _anything_ out of the ordinary' and I wouldn't call your excitement around mysterious death and such entirely ordinary."

"He's right," Belle said.  "At this point, any bit of information, even something that seems small to you, could be relevant to understanding just what you are capable of.  What I don't understand is how you can have magic at all.  I thought this place was the land without magic.  Who are your parents?  Could they have magic?"

Simmons wanted to ask her what she meant by 'land without magic' but she answered the question instead.  "I don't think my parents have magic, but it wouldn't matter anyway, I'm adopted."

"Do you know who your birth parents are?"  Simmons shook her head.  "I guess I'll start there then," Belle continued.  "I'll also see if I can find anything on telekinesis, glowing water, and the macabre."  Belle leaned on the counter and scribbled something on a pad of paper.

Dr. Hopper approached the table with Simmons.  "I think we should try again."

"But this time without the fear," Ms. Nova said as she stood beside him.

"I agree.  We need to help you figure out a way to truly control this gift, not just repress it."

Ms. Nova walked past him, pulled up a chair from a nearby table, and sat down opposite Simmons.  "Close your eyes."  Simmons did.  "Take a breath and picture a light."  Simmons pictured the sun beyond the surface of the waves.  "Follow that light."  That was easy, she had to follow that light, she had to save herself and Fitz.  "Magic is controlled through our emotions, most importantly love.  I need you to feel that love now, try thinking of the people that matter most to you."  Simmons thought of Fitz and her parents.  She thought of Coulson, Skye, May, and Trip.  There was someone else there, but no, he didn't count anymore, he'd betrayed them.  "Good, you can open your eyes now."

Simmons wanted to open her eyes, but she needed to block out his face first.  He'd tried to kill them.  He'd nearly killed Fitz--  She opened her eyes to see the book floating in front of her just as it flew to the left and slammed into another shelf.  "I'm sorry," she said, looking up into the worried face of Astrid Nova.

"No, it's fine," Ms. Nova assured her, her smile returning.  "No one expects you to have mastered it your first time.  You had quite a handle on it for a moment there."

"May I ask," said Dr. Hopper.  "What were you picturing?  I only ask because, when you lost control, it seemed similar to your fear response."

Simmons looked up at Fitz for a moment before turning back to Dr. Hopper.  "I was picturing the people I love, my family.  But sometimes family lets you down."  She felt Fitz take a step closer to her.

"May I speak with you alone?" Dr. Hopper asked.

Simmons hesitated before nodding her head.  The other three women started heading for the back of the library like this was a normal thing, but Fitz didn't budge.  Simmons looked up at him.  "It's alright, Fitz," she said.  He nodded and followed the other women.

Dr. Hopper sat down in Ms. Nova's vacated seat.  "You've been very secretive about what you do for a living, and I respect that; I have my secrets too.  But there is something that's getting to you, something heavy.  Do you want to talk about it?  I promise this conversation will remain entirely confidential."

Simmons thought about if for a moment.  "You're right, and I can't really talk about it.  Then again, it's not like anything of ours is really a secret anymore since Agent Romanoff exposed everything for the greater good."

"You're S.H.I.E.L.D."  He said it without any positive or negative judgement.

"Are.  Were.  Something different now.  I don't really know anymore."

"And you experienced some trauma in this job."

Simmons let out a gust of air that may have been a laugh.  "That's a bit of an understatement."

"Why don't you tell me about the person you were thinking of, the one who let you down."

At her first attempt to say anything, Simmons' voice seemed blocked and she almost coughed as her mouth shut before any sound came out.  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again.  "His name was Ward, Grant Ward.  If you've heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. you've heard of HYDRA."  She waited for Hopper's short nod of understanding.  "For months we thought Ward was one of us, we  _knew_ he was one of us, why wouldn't he be?  He was family.  When I jumped off the plane, he was the one to jump out after me.  He saved my life."  She stopped for a second to compose herself before she fell apart.  "But he wasn't one of us, he was one of them.  He betrayed us.  Fitz... Fitz wanted to believe the best in him.  But when it came down to it, down to us or them, Ward chose _them._ He _threw us_ off the plane in an airtight pod.  When I woke up, Fitz and I were trapped 90 feet under the surface of the ocean.  And Fitz--  We managed to work out a plan to escape, but Fitz realized that their wasn't enough oxygen in the tank to get us both to the surface.  He knew but didn't tell me until the last minute so he could make sure I survived while he died, but I couldn't--"  She couldn't keep talking any longer, the tears were flowing freely.

Dr. Hopper reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it gently.  "It's okay, it's okay.  You've been through a lot.  We won't talk about it anymore tonight.  Tomorrow though, I want you to come over to my friend's house for lunch."  He pulled a small pad of paper out of a pants-pocket, a pen out of a pocket in his waistcoat, and scribbled something down on a sheet.  "His name is Marco, and we were going to have lunch together tomorrow anyway."  He handed her the sheet of paper that had Marco's address on it.  "I'll invite Belle, Astrid, and Ruby as well.  You're welcome to bring the rest of your team, but only if you'll feel comfortable doing so."

She folded the paper and slid it into a pocket.  "Thank you."

***

The hospital was almost frighteningly quiet this early in the morning.  Simmons knew she'd only have this quiet for a short time as she opened the bag containing the water samples.  She'd left the bed & breakfast before anyone had woken up, wanting some time to herself as she looked for more answers in the water, but she'd also left a note next to her bed.  She'd briefly considered not writing a note, but after Coulson's reaction to her and Fitz's missed night, she knew it was best to.  Also, Fitz would panic if he woke up and found her missing with no sign of where she'd gone.  She knew he would because it was exactly how she would feel if the situation were reversed.

She reached into the bag and touched one of the vials, making sure not to touch any of the others.  The water instantly lit up.  She gently poured it into a petri dish and placed it under a microscope.  She hesitated a moment, hoping the water wouldn't be too bright to look at through a microscope, but when she finally did look, the light didn't bother her at all.  The water looked... normal, in spite of the fact that it was glowing.  As far as she could tell, there was absolutely nothing unusual about it, which didn't make any sense - it was glowing!  Something had to cause that.

A strange, dark blur rippled across the magnified surface.  Simmons flinched back, surprised.  She looked through the microscope once more to see that a darkness had become infused with the glow.  It almost seemed like it was trying to form an image, but she couldn't tell what it was through the magnification.  She removed the petri dish and set it down on the counter, looking into it.

The darkness that she had seen in the microscope was actually the shade under the trees of the forest.  The trees and... a thick, green cloud that covered the sky, looming ever closer.  She felt intensely sad looking at it.  The cloud was getting closer.  It turned purple.  It was so close now and she felt something terrible ripped away from her just as it--

The door to the lab burst open and Simmons tore her gaze away from the dish.  Fitz was in the doorway, looking anxious.  She glanced back at the dish, but it was just the same, clear glow that it was minutes ago.  "We need to go.  Trip went for a run this morning.  He just called Coulson for back up."

Panic burst into life in her chest as she poured the water, evidence that she was not normal, down the drain, grabbed her bag, and followed Fitz out of the hospital.  A block from the hospital a yellow Volkswagen beetle pulled up in front of them.  It was Ruby.  "Quick, get in!" she yelled through the open window.  Fitz and Simmons rushed in.

"You protect the town in this car?" Fitz asked almost jokingly.

"No, the sheriff does, but I figured she wouldn't mind if I borrowed it while she was gone."  Ruby drove as fast as she could in the beetle before stopping in front of some warehouse type building.  "Come on, your team's gone in here."  They followed her into the building, down narrow walkways full of piping.

Simmons caught sight of Skye up ahead.  When she reached her she gently tapped her on the shoulder.  Skye looked over at her.  "What's going on?" Simmons asked.

"Trip saw something suspicious when he was running this morning," she whispered back.  "So he decided to investigate.  He found a couple of guys hiding out here and when he approached them, one of them shot at him."

"What?" Simmons' question was almost too loud.

"Don't worry, they didn't get him.  He called us immediately after it happened.  May and Coulson have gone in with him, but they asked me to hang back."

Skye and Simmons both flinched at the sound of a couple of gunshots not far away.  Without thinking, Simmons immediately started heading toward the sound.

"Hey, wait!" Skye called out behind her.  Simmons didn't wait, but by the sound of footsteps, she assumed Skye, Fitz, and Ruby were following.  She turned a couple of corners before seeing Coulson, May, and Trip flat against a wall.  May glanced at her quickly before turning back to whoever it was shooting at them.

Simmons got closer, not sure if she was more afraid or more drawn to... something.  She was standing right next to May when Trip moved out into the open, gun aimed, but before he managed to pull the trigger, a shot already rang through from the other side.  It happened instantly.  Simmons flinched at the sound so close by, the sound of being shot at, the memory that this almost happening before to Trip during HYDRA's uprising at The Hub - when they still thought Victoria Hand was the enemy rather than an ally with a short time to live.  A short time before being shot by Ward.

All Simmons did in that moment was flinch.  It didn't sound like it did in the library when all the books fell from the shelves.  People don't sound the same as books when they get knocked from their feet and onto the ground.  Everyone was blown a foot or two further away from where they stood near Jemma.  When she opened her eyes Trip was lying on the ground.  He pushed himself up to his elbows.  He didn't seem like he'd been shot.  Jemma breathed a sigh of relief before she looked down to her right and saw Coulson looking up at her in shock from where he was laying next to May.

So much for her secret.


	7. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a lot I wanted to do in this chapter, but then I realized that would be too much, so I decided to split it into two chapters. Basically, this chapter is shorter than the usual (I think), but the next chapter will be up really soon.

The silence seemed to stretch on for hours though Jemma knew it was only a few moments before Coulson looked up at Trip, nodded, and Trip turned away from her and Coulson as he headed down the hallway toward the men who had been shooting at them before she'd knocked everyone down.  Coulson got up from the ground as May stood up behind him.  He didn't approach Jemma and his face was controlled so she couldn't decipher what he was thinking or what he might plan to do with her.  That silence was still there, even with Trip's footsteps in the background.  Finally, Coulson broke it.  "We'll talk later."  He said nothing else as he turned to follow Trip.  May stayed behind, her eyes never leaving Jemma.

She felt a familiar hand on her arm and her breathing came a little easier as she turned to see Fitz standing next to her, his eyes flicking back and forth between her and May.  Simmons looked over Fitz's shoulder and saw Skye staring at her, her expression far less controlled than Coulson or May's.  Skye looked at her like she was some frightening other.  Simmons quickly glanced away.  She didn't want to see her friends look at her like they no longer knew who she was.

Fitz leaned into her as Ruby brushed past him.  "Do you have them?" she asked May.

May didn't break her gaze from Simmons as she answered.  "Agent Coulson and Agent Triplett are detaining them now."

Ruby nodded.  As the sound of footsteps coming down the hall grew louder, everyone but May turned their heads to look.  Trip and Coulson came round the corner, each holding a man by the arm, both detained men with their hands behind their backs in what Simmons knew to be zip-ties.  Trip had a tall white man with glasses and Coulson had a shorter white man with no glasses.  The two men looked almost nothing alike and yet Simmons wondered if they were related.  Their noses looked almost the same.

"Do you have a couple of empty holding cells?" Coulson asked.

Ruby stared at the men a moment longer.  "Yeah, we do.  There's no one in the jail right now."

"We'll take one in our vehicle, you take the other."  Coulson nodded to Trip and Trip lead his prisoner out of the warehouse.  He then nodded to May who understood and followed Trip.  Ruby took the other prisoner and headed out with Skye accompanying her.  Coulson turned to Jemma.  "We're going to walk back to the Sheriff's Station.  I'll give you the entire walk there to tell me everything you've kept secret."  Without another word, he started towards the door.

Jemma stared after him.  She was terrified of saying anything.  If she told him everything, she would be admitting to lying the whole time she's been in S.H.I.E.L.D. but at the same time, he already seemed convinced of this and it would be pointless to deny it.  It was the truth after all.  She looked to Fitz for a sign, but he looked just as scared as her.  Jemma ran after Coulson.  When she caught up with him, she began with a breathy "I'm so sorry, sir."

"I don't want your apologies, Simmons.  I want the truth."

"Right."  She tried to swallow down her fear.  "Um, where do I begin?  I don't really know when it started.  Well, I know when  _it_ started, the moving things and all, but I don't know when or how I became whatever it is I am.  I don't know if I picked it up or if I was born with it or anything.  I was a kid when I first woke up from a nightmare and found my room a mess.  I was so scared I didn't tell anyone.  The first time it happened when I was awake was when I got upset over some silly little thing.  I think my mother wouldn't buy me the book I really wanted or something.  I threw a tantrum and she sent me to my room.  That was when I saw the things moving even though I wasn't actually touching them."  She took a breath, unsure whether to continue.  A glance at Coulson's face next to her told her nothing.  He kept such tight control over his emotions sometimes.

After walking in silence for a while, fearing her time in this conversation slipping away, she felt Fitz's hand slide into hers.  She continued, "Then I was selected for The Academy.  I learned about people who were different.  I knew I was different and I'd always been a little scared of that fact, but when I went to The Academy, it felt like this whole other thing where I might be seen as dangerous and studied or I might--" The drawings she'd seen of Red Skull flashed through her mind.  "I thought it best to continue keeping it to myself."

She didn't know if she should bring up Fitz finding out or not, she didn't want to sell him out like that.  Before she could even look at him and try to plead with him silently to not leave her alone in this, he chimed in.  "I figured it out though.  Like she could keep something like that from me.  She's a terrible liar."   _Not so terrible,_ Simmons thought to herself, filled with guilt.  "So I helped her keep her secret," Fitz finished.

The Sheriff's Station was coming into sight and Simmons feared what would happen when they reached it.  Coulson stopped abruptly in his tracks, and Simmons and Fitz had to stop quickly as well to keep from passing him up too far.  Coulson stared at her with the same hard expression he'd had the whole walk.  "But why keep it a secret from this team?  You were scared, I get that, but this team... We're supposed to trust each other."

"I know."  Simmons stared down at her shoes.  "I'm sorry."  There was nothing else she could say.  It will never happen again?  Of course it wouldn't happen again.  There was no bigger secret she could keep.

"This is a new era for S.H.I.E.L.D.  Hopefully in this one, you'll feel safer than you did in the last.  Our job is to protect.  Protect the people out there--"  She looked up to watch him point to the world beyond the town.  "Protect those who need it, even those that we need to protect others  _from._ But we need to protect each other as well.  You are a part of this team Simmons and I will  _always_ have your back, but I need to know you'll have mine.  I need to know you'll tell me everything that could jeopardize the safety of anyone else on this team.  We need to trust each other to look out for each other."

Simmons nodded, too shaky to really come up with something to say.  Coulson turned around and entered the station.  Simmons looked at Fitz for a moment before heading into the station as well, letting go of Fitz's hand to open the door.

As the two of them entered the main room with the two jail cells she could hear Coulson asking "Have you seen these men before."

Simmons walked into the room in time to see Ruby shake her head.  "Never.  They might have come in at the same time you guys did, but on a different road."  As soon as she stopped talking she looked up at Simmons and then Simmons noticed that everyone apart from the two men locked up were staring at her.  She felt horrible as she instinctively backed toward the wall, trying to somehow hide amongst the gray.  It hurt to think of how her team had already been betrayed by someone they trusted so much.  For her to do this to them...  How could they ever forgive her?

The sound of her back softly hitting the wall broke the tension of the room just enough that everyone went back to work.  Coulson approached the cells.  "What are your names?"  Neither of the men said anything.  He got a little closer to the cells while still keeping enough distance that neither of the men would be able to reach him through the bars.  "We aren't here to hurt you.  You may not know this, but you're trapped in this town and you can't get out without our help."

"Like you could get out either," the shorter man mumbled.

"Don't say anything," the taller man practically shouted and Jemma could tell their accents were English.

"Why don't you want to say anything?"  Coulson asked.  When neither of them men said anything, he backed away from the cells.  "I guess we'll just have to keep you here then."  He turned around and began walking back to the door.

The taller man watched Coulson walking away before he yelled "Wait!"  Coulson stopped and spun back around.  "You can't leave us here."

"Then maybe you should answer a few of my questions."  Coulson watched the taller man's face before beginning again.  "How long have you been in town?"

"A few days.  We've been in the warehouse for..." he paused to think.  "Three nights now."

Coulson glanced at Ruby.  "It seems you may be right about when they arrived here."  He spoke to the man again.  "What's your name?"

"John."  John looked as if he were about to say more but then he caught himself, swallowing whatever words never made it out.

"John what?"

John shook his head.  "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"That is not an answer I'm particularly comfortable with," Coulson said.  Simmons agreed.  She could think of one John off the top of her head that she wouldn't like to see again and wouldn't believe it if she did.

"Trust me, it's better if I don't tell you my last name.  If I did, you wouldn't believe me."  John stood up and approached the bars.  "I'm John, my brother," he pointed at the shorter man sitting in the cell next to him.  "Is Michael.  Now please, you can't leave us in here."

Coulson didn't make any move to let them out.  "Why did you shoot at my team?"

John glanced away a moment before looking back at Coulson.  "We panicked.  We can't let anything get in the way of what we came here to do."

"And what is that?"

John didn't answer, he just stared at them through the bars.

"Then I can't let you out."  Coulson turned around again, moving toward the door just like earlier.

"Please, it's our sister!"  John shouted.  "We have to save our sister."

Coulson faced the cells again, but he didn't approach them.  "Is your sister in town?"

John shook his head no.  Michael stood up from where he'd been silently watching his brother try to deal their way to freedom.  He leaned into the bars and spoke, looking only at Ruby.  "Please.  You're from this town, right?"  When Ruby didn't answer him, he continued.  "Please help us.  The man who has the kid from this town, he has our sister."

Desperation covered all of Ruby's face as she stood closer to the cell.  "How you do you know about that?"

"Because we work for him," Michael answered.  Ruby looked around the room and she realized everyone was watching her and Michael.  She backed away from the cell as she considered what to do.

"Can I talk to you outside?"  She headed for the hallway before waiting for any of them to answer.  When they were all in the hall, Jemma watched Ruby pace back and forth a minute before she stopped and started speaking.  "Okay, so all of you know that the Sheriff is away with a few other people from this town."  Coulson nodded his understanding, representing all of them.  "You also know that there is a protective force field covering the entire town until they return.  A couple of you," she looked at FitzSimmons.  "Know a little bit more about this town and how unusual it is.  We don't like-- We're wary of strangers for a reason.  The people here aren't like everyone else in this world."  It was the way she said 'this world' that made Jemma think there was a lot more to what she was saying than just the words at their face value.  "Sometimes when strangers come here it's a good thing, like when Emma Swan came to town and ended up being Sheriff.  But other times it's really bad.  A couple of strangers came to town recently and they took the Sheriff's son a few days ago."

"Who took him?" Trip asked.  "Who do those men work for?"  He pointed back at the room behind them.

Ruby shook her head.  "I can't tell you."

"More secrets."  Coulson said and Jemma felt another piece of her sink further inside.

"I'm sorry, but to tell you that would betray everyone in this town.  These aren't just my secrets to tell."

"There is something going on in this town, Miss Lucas, and we're only here to help."  Coulson sighed.  "Don't let those men out yet.  We'll talk later."

***

Jemma sat in a chair downstairs at Granny's.  There was no one else in the room as she stared at the wallpaper, trying to quell the war going on inside her stomach and her heart.  She couldn't stop herself thinking back on all the chances she'd had to tell them in the past.  She could have told her parents when she was little.  She could have said something at The Academy.  She could have told the truth about her excitement, then confusion, and then fear about the alien virus.  She could have told the truth after she jumped off the plane to save everyone she'd just hurt.  She remembered who it was that saved her.

"Maybe it's a good thing you didn't say anything."  Jemma jumped at the sound of May's voice above her.  She looked up as May took the seat next to her on the couch.  "I don't like that you kept this from us, but if you  _had_ told us, you would've told Ward and there's no knowing what he would have done with that information.  He may have tried to kill you sooner, but more likely Garrett would have wanted you for your abilities.  He might have tried to grab you from that train and you wouldn't have been there to keep Skye alive while we found her treatment.  You wouldn't have been there with Fitz to save him from the bottom of the ocean.  Things could have been a whole lot worse."

Jemma wanted to say  _thank you.  Thank you for not hating me.  Thank you for thinking about this better than I can._ But none of the words would come out.  Instead she just burst into tears.  May put her arm around her and Jemma laid her head on her shoulder as she cried.  May didn't say anything as Jemma kept sobbing, the stress of the day, the week, the past few months all coming out at once.  So much had happened and Jemma had hardly the time to comprehend it.  Then today she thought she'd lost five of the most important people in the world to her.  Through her tears she saw other blurs enter the room.  She lifted her head, keeping her body pressed against May's side as she wiped enough of her tears away to see those exact five people enter the room.

"Hey, don't cry." Skye said as she rushed over to Jemma's other side.  She rubbed Jemma's arm.  "We're here for you Simmons.  We aren't going anywhere."

Trip pulled up a large, comfy chair and sat in it in front of Jemma.  "We're here to help you in whatever way you need us to.  You saved my life today.  Do you really think I'd turn my back on you for that?"  Jemma shook her head no as she laughed through her tears which were coming softer now.  "We're your family, Simmons, we're not going anywhere."

Jemma smiled as she looked up to where Fitz and Coulson were standing.  "We were thinking," Coulson began.  "Fitz said that while you've been here you've been seeking help from some of the townspeople.  We were thinking that as long as we're trapped here, you might as well get all the help you can out of it.  We'll continue to investigate the energy source as a main priority.  But our second priority will be helping you."

Simmons just smiled as she looked around at her team - her  _family_  - as her mind failed to come up with words to express to them how completely and utterly grateful she was that they knew her deepest secret and they were still going to stand by her side.


End file.
